Year 10 BStreetsmart Excursion
On Tuesday 5 August, Year 10 travelled to Homebush to experience BStreetsmart, a road safety education initiative for students in Years 10-12. The initiative by Westmead Hospital’s Trauma Department, is designed to reduce crashes among young drivers. With road accidents being a leading cause of death and serious injury among young people, we aim to educate and empower them to make safer choices.
BStreetsmart uses interactive experiences, real life crash survivor stories and engaging content to deliver a powerful learning experience – building a safer future for everyone.
The BStreetsmart excursion was an incredible experience, undergoing many road safety challenges and incidents. Being given the opportunity to experience this presentation allowed me to understand and be aware of how to stay safe while driving and making sure that I don’t break any rules such as drink driving, using a mobile phone and letting distractions control my actions. Although there were some parts of this presentation that were quite heart stopping and emotional, it ensured that I know what the consequences of unsafe driving practices are and can prevent me from making life threatening decisions. Overall, this excursion was an unforgettable experience.
Wendi Fan
Attending BStreetSmart was an eye-opening and emotional experience that I will never forget. Seeing real-life stories of young people whose lives were changed in a split second was deeply confronting. It made me realise how one bad decision on the road can lead to devastating consequences not just for the driver, but for families, friends and entire communities. BStreetSmart didn’t just teach us road rules, it taught us about the value of life. I’m truly grateful for the chance to attend and will carry these lessons with me always.Logno Halsona
My fellow peers and myself had the privilege of attending the BStreetsmart excursion on the 5 August. This amazing experience was both educational and incredibly eye-opening, with a variety of different spokespeople, testimonies and activities for the students to engage in. We first witnessed a powerful performance of a real-life crash scenario where what seemed like a laugh between friends resulted in an extremely dangerous situation- teaching all the attendees the risk of speeding and driving while under the influence. We then had the honour to hear two victim testimonies, highlighting the immense risk of permanent brain injury after a car crash. The event also allowed students to learn all different kinds of skills, from administering CPR to learning the “ins and outs” of a firetruck. These allowed students to learn basic first-aid skills in mere minutes but made an everlasting impact. After the break, we listened to Heidi Haydon’s story of perseverance and resilience as her life was completely shifted after becoming a paraplegic. The event was finished with Melissa McGuinness’ speech on how a car crash can impact so many and have an enduring ripple effect. Overall, it was a really thought-provoking and worthwhile experience that taught us important life skills that we will take into adulthood.
Georgia Tsovolos
